To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs

(1) which Government Departments are (a) covered by and (b) excluded from the Directgov website;

(2) how much of the Department's budget (a) was spent on the launch of the Directgov website and (b) is incurred in Directgov's running costs; and how many hits it has received since its launch.

I have been asked to reply.

Directgov is the Government's new primary digital service to provide citizens access to the full range of Government services. Launched in April 2004 it continues to expand its range of citizen focused content with contributions in its latest release from Cabinet Office, Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills, Department for Work and Pensions, Office of the Deputy prime minister (including local authorities), Department for Transport, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Inland Revenue, Home Office, Environmental Agency, Office of Fair Trading, Land Registry, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Electoral Commission, H.M. Customs and Excise, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Department for Trade and Industry, and Financial Services Authority. This list is expected to expand with all Government Departments encouraged to present their citizen facing information and services through Directgov.

Directgov was initially delivered as an integrated programme with UK Online from an existing operational budget of £4.4million in 2003–04. Annual running costs for this financial year are not yet available. Since Directgov's launch in April 2004 it has recorded over 5.2 million visits to the website, increasing from 420,000 visits in May to over 900,000 visits during November.